University of Chicago Top Questions

It's hard to say what the most popular organization on campus is, because there isn't really one that dominates UChicago's diverse student clubs scene. I am involved in Rhythmic Bodies in Motion, a dance group that puts on a spring show and has participants from every major and lots of different interests! Dorms have their own culture--the dorm I lived in my first two years, Pierce, was known for its camaraderie, and people usually left their doors open. Athletic events are not the most popular thing to do on campus, but if you want to watch a sporting event, there are always some people there. Guest speakers are more popular, especially because University of Chicago is able to draw some big names. Theater is also fairly popular--the University has several student productions a quarter, as well as the nearby Court Theater, which puts on professional and acclaimed shows. The dating scene is a little thin, but not hopeless! It just depends on how much you put yourself out there in situations where you might meet new people. I've been dating my boyfriend for two years now! People party pretty much every weekend, and fraternities and sororities have a growing influence on campus. My boyfriend and I are both involved in greek life, which is how I've met some of my closest friends. Off-campus, people usually go downtown or explore some of the fantastic Chicago neighborhoods (Chinatown, Wicker Park, etc.). Chicago has fantastic shopping, culture, and nightlife, obviously.

As mentioned, the UChicago student body is incredibly diverse and hard to pin down in to many common categories. Many students do not participate in organized student activities, but are incredibly active in their work or personal passion. Many students are RSO(Recognized Student Organization) maniacs, holding leadership positions in multiple student activities. Among our largest student networks would include: Model United Nations, University Theater, A Capella (various groups), investment/consultancy groups, and a wide variety of cultural/ethnic associations. While attendance at varsity athletics is certainly lacking, recent years has seen drastic increase in popularity. Informal athletics, on the other hand, plays a huge part in student life. Over 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students participate in intramural sports, and many more play pick-up sports, play club sports, or frequent one of the athletic centers. One essential part of student life on campus is the "House system", that much like in Harry Potter, places students in a residential "House". This house participates in IM sports, takes house trips, and eats together at the dining hall. For many, this is the main source of their social life. Besides these varied forms of "organized" social life, Chicago and the University offers a cornucopia of entertainment options. On campus there are well attended lectures and seminars every day of the week, and student performances galore from theatrical and musical groups. In Chicago, these opportunities are multiplied. Due to the diverse interests of the student body, there is something for anyone here. If you want to be a part of Greek life and frequent fraternities every weekend, you can. If you never want to even see Greek life, and rather see life in Greektown and the rest of Chicago, you can do that to. While there are more popular activities, nothing is held above all else here.

Most students are involved heavily in at least one RSO (registered student organizations). Some of the more popular are the ethnic RSOs such as SASA (South Asian Student Association) and the economics/investing RSOs (such as BlueChips). Students also participate in political RSOs such as College Republicans and SFS (Students for a Free Society), and performing arts RSOs (University Theater, a cappella, UBallet) are also quite popular. I am personally involved in a cappella on campus, having sung in two a cappella groups and currently serving as music director for one of them. Athletic events are generally very poorly attended and school spirit is negligible, and instead the largest crowds are gathered by important speakers and performance arts RSOs. Most friendships are formed in the dorms, as house culture is very strong and you are forced to interact regularly with the same 40-100 people with whom you live. Other friendships are formed in RSOs and in very tight-knit classes and majors (though this is more uncommon). I personally live with and spend most of my time with friends made in the dorms, and other than that mostly hang out with people in my a cappella group. UChicago has a number of traditions (Kuvia, Scav) that occur every year and awaken the dormant school spirit in a large percentage of students, and some consider these events "the ultimate UChicago experience."

Here's a little peg for my organization: MODA is one of the largest organizations on campus. It puts out two magazines each year which includes student models, writers, stylists, and layout specialists. MODA also has two well-attended fashion shows each year, and students can walk the runway or design the clothes. Other top student groups include University Theatre, Rhythmic Bodies in Motion (a dance group), and a Capella groups. And Scav Hunt is HUGE. We were just included in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest scavenger hunt. Past items included bringing wild animals (elephants, lions, tigers) to campus, designing all sorts of cool projects (including a nuclear reactor, which some kid accomplished in his dorm room), going on road trips (one had students headed to Las Vegas with only a bathing suit, ball gown or suit, and an ID!), and more. So popular on campus, and you can be as involved as you want to be (or steer clear entirely).

Model United Nations is very intense at UofC. A lot of students are involved in MUN and the MUN team is ranked as one of the best in the country. Apart from that, ethnical student organizations like South Asian Student Organization or Turkish Student Organization are very active. They always organize events. Even though a lot of varsity teams are division 3, there are also lots of athletes at UChicago. Speaking of sports, I am a rower and doing crew is definitely awesome at the University of Chicago. Rowing on the Chicago River and seeing downtown Chicago every morning are just perfect! I am also a representative for my class hence a member of Student Government. SG works a lot organizing events, distributing money to Registered Student Organizations (RSO) and reviewing RSO applications. It is demanding and at the same time an honor to be in SG.

First-years begin in their houses-- they pick their dorm and are typically related by a love of similar things and personality. These are the people typically spend late nights with, study with, and play intramural sports with. Often, this is where the friends come from. Right away, students are thrown into our mix of 350 registered student organizations. We have a large variety, from modern to shakespearean theater, to quidditch and archery, to drinkers with a writing problem and figure drawing, to circus and capoeira. It is very easy to create a club and get events funded once you have several people interested. The biggest events on campus are live concerts and shows, improv and sketch comedy, theater of various kinds, circus, the Lascivious ball, and various cultural shows. There are study breaks, info sessions, or smaller shows almost every day, and therefore opportunities for food. Our traditions are a major part of school spirit. On the smaller end, we have things like $1 Wednesday milkshakes and a capella arch sings. On the bigger end, we have Scav, a 4 day weekend that involves students answering ambiguous clues by traveling cross country, doing creative sports, building reactors, painting giant murals, and gluing large googly eyes to the tops of buildings; and Kuviya, a winter week of 6am aerobics, running naked through the quads, and going to sunrise at the point. Off-campus, Chicago is a city of art and commerce. We are a heart of music, of pubs and restaurants, of tourist attractions, and kayaking. We have everything another big city would have, but live about 15 minutes away, in a quieter lakeside area. It is balance.

Some popular groups on campus include RBIM (Rhythmic Bodies in Motion) which puts on a dance show every year, MODA (which does fashion shows/magazine publications), Model UN (for both college and high school kids), acapella groups, Off-Off and Occam’s Razor (Improv/comedy group), etc. There are hundreds of activities and clubs here. If you want to do something, you’ll find it. And if not, you’ll be able to start it. Students here generally leave their doors open, but it highly depends on what dorm you live in. Pierce, Max, and South are known as the most social dorms. Other dorms, such as Snell-Hitchcock, BJ, etc., have a reputation for being where more typical/stereotypical UChicago kids tend to live. However, I hear they’re very nice and that those dorms tend to have closer, tighter houses. Athletic events, guest speakers, and theater are just a few of the things available on campus. Students here are very involved, and on any given day, you can find something new and interesting to do. The dating scene is what you make of it, but it’s certainly not as bad as people make it seem. I can say meeting people is the same way. Some people choose to solely hang out with their housemates, but lots of students try to branch out by meeting people in classes, activities, at parties, etc. If I’m awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I’m most likely “doing homework” in the lounge while actually watching a movie or playing some ridiculous game with my housemates. UChicago also has really nice traditions and events that happen every year. $1 milkshakes at the C-shop every Wednesday, Blues + Ribs, 24-hour dance marathon, Fall Formal, Summer Breeze (huge concert), etc. People party as much or as little as they want. I know students who go out once a week to students who go out four nights a week. It depends on your schedule and how you balance your work, but it’s definitely possible to do both. Sororities and fraternities aren’t the most important thing on campus, but they definitely have presence. It’s not overbearing, but it’s here if you want it. Last weekend, I laid out in the main quad, played Frisbee, studied outside, went to a frat party later that night, came back and watched a movie with my housemates, went to a free hip-hop class through RBIM, worked out at Ratner (gym) and caught up on some TV, went downtown for Saturday night dinner, came back and went straight to an apartment party thrown by an upperclassman in my house, and spent the rest of the weekend taking pictures of Chicago for a photography project. There’s also no pressure to drink here. If you want to, alcohol is definitely available. But for those who don’t, it’s no loss. You can go to frat parties, but there’s also tons of things to do downtown in Chicago, docfilm movie showings on campus, etc.

There's a decent amount of partying, if you look in the right places. The dating scene isn't that great, people seem to be in relationships forever or playing the field forever. I usually hang out with my house, but I have plenty of friends outside the house too. The House System can be kind of sheltering and constricting as far as friend groups go, especially the first year or two.

Again, the social activities are diverse as the students. There are frat parties every weekend, and while they get "lame," they can still be fun. There are also movies, concerts downtown, dinner downtown, on-campus events. Apartment parties. The one thing about the party scene is that students don't really put a lot of energy into it. This is a good thing rather than a bad thing-- students don't feel pressured to binge drink or rush certain frats and women don't feel pressured to hook up. This also means that frat parties can feel like bar mitzvahs with beer. That's why I think apartment parties tend to be more fun-- it's with people who know each other slightly better hanging out together and dancing rather than a sketchy and anonymous basement.

House life is the cornerstone of your social life. In your first year, your housemates will be your first friends and your connection to apartment parties, upperclassmen, and overall amazing people. Parties are pretty easy to come by with the fraternities having parties every weekend (and even one has bar night on Wednesday) and apartment parties galore. RSOs have parties, too, where conversation will come easily. The dating scene is pretty non-existent; a lot of people hook up at parties or are in serious committed relationships, so there's little middle ground. Greek life is a part of my life on campus--about {4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}15 of campus goes Greek. Greek life is without hazing and very low key, so being a part of one here doesn't necessarily translate to you being straight out of "Legally Blonde." Greek life isn't going to bother you if you're not into it, though. There are plenty of things to do on campus, from theater to music to hanging out in your house lounge with your housemates. Movie marathons with your house will be amazing times. You can always go downtown, too--Chicago is a great city!